A/N Hi everyone! I know it's been ages. Trust me I know. Now, I'm not going to go and sprout out excuse after excuse but I'm going to give you a damn chapter instead. Now because of the wait, I kind of changed the ending up a little to keep you happy. I also feel like I should tell you all that I have started uploading this story on Wattpad so if you see it on there, don't worry it's not copyright or anything. My name on there changes all the time as well because I'm indecisive.

Thank you to all the lovely people commenting and favouriting and following and all that jazz. Now to warn you, this is a VERY dramatic chapter and it really does change a lot of things for Clove as the first sentence implies.

Don't know when I'll next update but I am NOT abandoning it so please stop worrying!

Kathy

Chapter 13

Tonight was going to change everything.

His house was really something else. However, that wasn't actually the thing that made my jaw drop in a cartoon way. No, it was the people who were surrounding the beautiful structure, either drunk off their mind or passed out on the enormous lawn. It was not a house designed for this kind of disgrace.

We walked through the extravagant gates and across said lawn, drawing more attention than was really necessary with these two "kings" beside me. I'd forgotten that this was where they were in their element; this was their kingdom and they sure did rule. As I looked between them, I didn't find the disgust and discomfort that I knew my features would wear. No, it was as if they were finally home. As we approached, the music pulsing made my heart pound. When we finally walked through the door, I realised that the party experience I had had (solely in the comfort of my own home) was not going to prepare me for tonight but for some reason that prospect didn't scare me; it thrilled me. Maybe the idiocy of the school student-body had finally rubbed off on me.

I looked to my left to find Bes walking off in the direction of girls I could only presume had come to this party dressed as sluts, but then they wouldn't need a costume. Their "outfit" consisted primarily of underwear and some animal ears on their head. How creative. But then was Bes any better? He'd decided last minute that his costume would be a surfer which basically meant he could come shirtless and make all the girls swoon. Unfortunately, it was working. When I looked to my right, I was surprised to find Cato smirking down at me. I had presumed he would follow King Bes' lead. Oh and did I mention? Cato was dressed appropriately for his status. With a plastic, kiddy crown on his head and some seductive tux, he deemed himself royalty.

The music was so loud he had to lean in to say, "Why don't we go get a drink?"

I pushed his arm off my shoulder not-so-gently and shouted over the pounding sound, "Oh sweety, there is no 'we'!" Before walking into the mass of grinding teens, to get to the kitchen.

It took longer than it should have to find the kitchen and when I did, I had to dodge a couple practically doing it against the door. Lovely. I opened several cupboards looking for a cup to use when I spotted a red, plastic cup on the floor. I bent down to pick it up when I felt a hand squeeze my ass making me whip back up and turn around, slapping the culprit before fully comprehending the situation. I froze once I realised what had just happened.

The surprisingly smug face of none other than Steve Burden was stood before me when suddenly he let out a small chuckle at my obviously flustered self. How fucking dare that prick!

"What the hell do you think you're doing you little shit!" I shouted angrily. I didn't care whether he was one of the most popular guys in school, he could NOT touch me like that. Ever. No one can fucking touch me like that. I'm surprised I didn't break down and cry.

He smirked more if that's even possible. "Ooh who knew little birdy could sing…"

"Fuck you." I replied, grabbing the bottle of vodka on the counter and trying to move out of the room.

His muscular arm in front of the door had me retreating.

"Calm down. Geez Clove, you are such a prude sometimes! Like Jesus, have you ever been touched?" He took a step closer to me and I could smell the alcohol on his breath, "Or are you like going to be a nun? Huh? Gonna die a virgin or what, babe?"

His close proximity and shit talking really made me angry, not scared for once. Angry. I pushed his chest so hard that he stumbled backwards and for a second I doubted my decision, but only for a second. "And who the fuck do you think you are? Like you get that much action! Darling, you ain't as good as you think you are and maybe someday you'll get off your fucking high horse, yeah?"

I tried to storm away but there was one more thing I wanted to clarify. For him. For me. For everyone.

"And yes, I have been touched you twit. I have a guy in my bed practically every night." With that I burst back into the crowd of people dancing or whatever and I felt like I could actually take care of myself for once. And yeah maybe I shouldn't have said all that but I wasn't lying and he'd forget by tomorrow anyway, right? So what's the harm?

I blended into the party-goers but I didn't need anyone to grind into. I danced by myself in a crowd of people dancing with others because being alone ain't that bad, especially when you got the best friend anyone could ever need: a big bottle of vodka. I took a big swig, closed my eyes and let the annoyingly repetitive beat of the music absorb every part of my body. I think at some point people joined me and I think I may have taken a few more swigs too but my eyes were shut and the music was playing and that was all that really mattered to me then, because this is a party and this is what you do.

A naughty smile clung to my cheeks and this, I realised, was the freedom of not giving a shit.

The night was growing older and in that time I had seen far more of Tia Capan than any person should ever see. Thankfully, we didn't have to converse at all because I dodged her line of sight to the best of my ability. There weren't many people I knew who seemed to be here but I had managed to locate my best friend: alcohol. Oh, and I'd also found Katy.

Though the music was dreadful, Katy and I danced like our lives depended on it and I suppose it was far more fun than I'd really expected from this. Our dancing was pretty innocent in comparison with the grinders around us, so every time I caught Bes' eye, he did nothing of his protective nature.

Katy turned to me, and shouted over the music, "Hey, have you seen Lucy anywhere?"

I shook my head but the question began eating away at me. Bes had disappeared after his last "check-up" on me and my stomach sunk at the thought that they might be off somewhere together. This whole thing with Lucy and Bes was really bothering me. Why were they being so secretive? But the thing that really bothered me was the fact she seemed to be acting as more of a friend to him than she ever was to me. I mean sure, she'd been there and we'd laughed and had fun together but that isn't all a friend should be, right? I mean, she never noticed when I was down and she never really questioned why she couldn't come to my house or anything like that. I always thought a real friend would care more. Katy seemed to. And Sophie too. I'd never really thought of Sophie as a close friend, she was always just Will's girlfriend, but now I suppose I'm starting to.

"Hey, you okay?" Katy shouted over to me. She must have noticed my mood. Maybe it was because she noticed these things; she noticed what a friend should.

I smiled, a genuine one, "Yeah, I'm perfect." I pulled her into a hug and though she seemed confused, she went along with it and hugged me back. I suppose I had never thought of all this before but I-

I was shoved aside roughly, "Move out the way, lovebirds." I whipped around angrily only to find Emily and Alex hand-in-hand. Looking at them now, I wondered how I had ever thought Alex was an alright guy. He certainly didn't have an alright taste in girls.

I was about to open my mouth with a witty comeback but usually-quiet Katy beat me to it.

"What, so you can go off with your whorish boyfriend?"

I could sense the bubbling fury building up in Emily at those words but oddly, Alex seemed completely unfazed as if she'd never spoken the words. I quickly pulled Katy out of the way and across the room to another empty spot for dancing. We carried on as if nothing had happened but it had and the sick feeling about Lucy and Bes only intensified when I saw Alex and Emily. Normally I'd put the sick feeling to the alcohol but honestly, I'd barely had any with goody-to-shoes Katy here. Somehow though, it kind of felt okay.

It took me a while to realise I hadn't seen Cato in a while. I tried not to dwell on it and let it ruin my already sour mood. Eventually, the thought crept back in to my head and they were so damn demanding that I couldn't ignore them for much longer. I excused myself from Katy and left her with some cute geeky guy while I went to explore the house in search of Cato. The place really was extravagant, I mean I knew Steve was rich but I didn't know this much. It took me a while to search the main rooms downstairs and just as I was about to head upstairs, I realised there was a room I hadn't yet ventured into. I don't know how I had missed it on the first rounds but I had. Slowly, I made my way over to the large doorway, dodging discarded cups along the way. Music blasted from the room along with the sounds of laughter and conversation. I crept in quietly trying to hide in the crowd.

My eyes swept the perimeter and I had to do a double take. I didn't find Cato no (though I'm quite sure he was there) but I found two other people I had been searching for most of the night: Bes and Lucy. They were dancing in the middle of the floor with a crowd around them and their dancing style was far from innocent; their bodies were practically joined. That sick feeling practically exploded in my gut. How could she? I felt betrayed and I don't even really know why. Yes we'd joked about this but the reality was far worse because it proved that he was far more meaningful than I was. She had clearly disregarded every sorry word I'd ever said about him. How could she?

I elbowed my way through the crowd angrily.

How could she?!

I was shoved back a few times but my anger fuelled me to reach them. And I did.

How dare she?!

When I did reach her, I didn't even know what to do, how to react, what to say. Before I knew it, I was shoving her backwards angrily. Her expression changed from lovesick puppy to angry bitch in a heartbeat but this was her doing. I felt Bes grab my shoulder and whisper something to me but I didn't give a shit. They didn't care about me before. Lucy sprung back and pushed me just as hard as I'd shoved her, and I stumbled backwards into someone else. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that we were drawing a crowd in the small lounge but I didn't care. It was only me and her in the moment.

My hand leapt up of its own accord and struck her cheek so hard that her face whipped to the side and she was fuming. Just as I thought she would really attack, I saw Bes draw her into his arms to try and calm her and it only pissed me off more.

"What the fuck is wrong with you Clove!?"

I snapped, "What's wrong with me?! You fucking know what is wrong! I told you, I told you why you shouldn't do this! You're my friend!" Or at least you were.

Her expression softened and so did Bes' grip. "Well if we are friends, then can't you be happy for me instead of being a little bitch about it?"

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. "Fuck you."

I stormed away just as the tears started to drop one by one. I lowered my head so that people couldn't see them. Desperately, I raced around the house looking for Katy so she could give me a lift home. I couldn't stay here any longer. Everything was falling apart. This party had to be the worst night of my life.

When I couldn't find her in any of the downstairs rooms, I stumbled upstairs though I knew I wouldn't find her with this many people. As I walked along the hallway, I realised how many rooms I would have to search and I knew I didn't want to see what was going on behind these doors but if I wanted to find her, this was my only option.

I went to the nearest door to me and gently pushed it open a little. When I didn't hear any "GET OUT"s I deemed it safe to enter. Empty. I went to the next door along and repeated the process. Again, there was no "GET OUT"s so I deemed it safe. Unfortunately this one was not empty but it had two, possibly soon to be three, people in the room. I quickly shut the door and tried not to let that image scar me forever. The next three were empty and the fourth I didn't even bother to open just by the noises I could hear through the walls. People are classy. When I reached the next one along, I couldn't hear any sounds so I thought it would be okay. By this point I was frustrated so I opened it fully this time.

There were two people with their lips locked intimately in a compromising position with half their clothes off. But this was far worse than before. I knew exactly who these people were. I let out a very audible gasp and the two figures jumped apart as quickly as they could. Their hair was ruffled and a compete mess, their lips swollen and their eyes bulging. My mouth was hung open and my eyes were wide. .God.

I quickly ran out of the room and attempted to sprint down the stairs but Will grabbed my arm.

"Wait Clove! It wasn't what it looks like I swear!" He panted out desperately.

I couldn't even begin to form a response so I just tore my arm out of his grasp and sprinted down the stairs at full speed. I could hear him running after me but I managed to lose him in the crowd of people.

My breathing was ragged and my brain was going wild. It seems I've made some particularly interesting revelations about almost all of my friends tonight. This night is going to change everything for me. Everything.

Suddenly a hand grabbed my arm as I wound through the people. I froze and tensed up, sure it was Will having found me. Unfortunately it was worse. I turned around slowly and was met with Sophie's worried face.

"Have you seen Will anywhere? I'm worried he's gotten into a fight with Steve. I mean they really don't get on well and I haven't seen either of them." She spoke quickly, letting her worries tumble out in a big mess.

My throat was dry. My stomach was sick. I should tell her but I couldn't form the words. Instead I rapidly shook my head and backed away from her quickly. I couldn't tell her but I couldn't hide this. He was cheating on her. She should know but I couldn't.

I put my hands to my head to try and stop the headache that was building up slowly. This was going to be a long night. I needed a friend but I wasn't sure what that was anymore…

I sat on the porch step watching the drunken people stumble across the lawn. My tears had dried, my heart had hardened and my cuts began to itch. Emotions were tormenting little devils, gnawing at your bones until you can't help but scream and shout, and the worst ones always showed up at all the wrong times.

I watched my feet scuff rhythmically against the cold pavement as my thoughts buzzed and burned around my head. I was so tired of all the drama. My head fell into my hands and I let out a muffled scream. What was I supposed to do? Everything was falling apart.

"Can I sit?" I heard a timid voice ask from behind me. I glanced up and saw Sarah Price. The last time I had talked to her was in class when we became assigned partners and she was surprisingly kind to me. I had painfully misjudged her.

"If you want to…" And she clearly did because she sat down right beside me.

"So…I kind of saw the fight between you and Lucy…"

I continued to stare across the lawn as the sprinklers came on and the drunken zombies started moaning and screaming as they tried to dodge them but ended up tripping on their own feet. It was mildly amusing.

"You okay, Clove?"

Again someone actually cares. It's a nice change.

"I'm fine. You can go back inside."

"I know I can but I think you need someone to bitch to. Am I right?"

"Kind of." I replied tiredly.

She giggled slightly. "Well I'm probably the best person for that."

"I know." I said, referring to all the times she bitched, with Tia and Emily, about everyone else.

She let out a long sigh, "You know Clove, I feel like you've kind of already got your opinion set about me. Well, can I ask you a question? There's a lot of people at school who you've never talked to yeah? And do you think, honestly think, that they know everything there is to know about you? All your layers?"

"Sarah, I get what you're saying and all but I think I know you pretty well. You haven't exactly got many layers."

"Okay." She was quiet for a while. "So did you know that I got straight A's in History?"

I whipped my head around. "No you didn't."

"I did." The way she said it almost had me believing her.

"But like you never even do the work! You just look in the mirror the whole time!"

She laughed as if I wasn't insulting her, "Or so people think."

I paused, "So what's your point with all of this? I mean I know my friends aren't what they seem. Trust me, I have learnt that tonight."

"What I'm getting at is that you don't know all the details of Bes and Lucy. Yes he's your brother and she's your friend but you can never really know a person. Everyone has their secrets. But we try to anyway. We try to find out as much as we can so we can build a trust with someone. Maybe you should take a deep breath and look at the world as new. You don't know them, they don't know you and learn again. It's the best way to really see the world."

"After that speech, I'm starting to think I really don't know you."

She laughed again, "And the same goes for Cato."

My brow creased. "What do you mean?"

She had a mischievous glint in her eye, "Well I know you think you know everything about him but maybe you don't. To tell you the truth, I know Cato better than you might think but that's another story. Try and look at him like a new person and maybe you'll see beneath all those layers. Cause he has a lot of layers that he hides behind and I know you do too."

"Look I don't really care about the real him or whatever, he is-"

The door burst open and out stumbled Cato with a smirk on his face. My face turned into a very deep blush.

"I'll leave you two." Sarah stood up and gave me a subtle wink behind his back.

Cato stumbled forwards and landed harshly on the step beside me. He was very, very close to me. As he leaned in to me I could smell the strong stench of alcohol on his breath. He had drank a lot which was very unlike him. He sloppily leaned into my ear and slurred his words slightly as he whispered "You look very beautiful, Cloverfield."

When I thought he was going to pull back, he lay his head on my shoulder so his lips brushed against my neck. My heartbeat suddenly increased to match the beat of the pounding music inside and I couldn't breathe. Sure we'd been close but not so intimately as this. I could feel his breath tickling my neck and I could smell his familiar scent beneath the alcohol on his breath.

After a short time he drew back and gave me a lopsided grin to match his lopsided crown. I reached my fingers up to move it back properly on his head but he grasped my wrists and pushed them back. He grabbed the crown himself but instead of fixing the angle that it lay at, he lifted it off completely and placed it on my head instead. It completely went against my angel costume but I didn't really complain. His hands lingered for a second before pulling back.

"Now you're my queen."

Suddenly he stood up and reached out his hand for me to grab onto. For some reason I did and he led me back inside and up the stairs. No one really gave us any attention which I was thankful for since it probably looked like we were off to do things upstairs. He stumbled a few times on the way but overall he was fine and we made it there in one piece. Once there, he made his way to one of the rooms as if he knew exactly where it was; maybe he did since him and Steve were friends.

As soon as we got into the room, I shut the door behind me and made my way over to wear he was sitting on the floor looking out of a full length window. The view was amazing. He turned to look at me and the dim lights of the street fit his features perfectly.

I thought of all the things Sarah said to me and I kind of believed her. Then I thought of when Bes said that alcohol makes people honest. It takes away their walls and lets you see the real person behind their smile whether it is their sadness or their anger. Or maybe even their true love for you.

"Do you really love me Cato?"

I regretted the question as soon as it was out there. The silence in the air was ringing and I felt the weight of it dig it's claws into my shoulder.

He looked right at me and smiled softly. "What's not to love?"

"A lot of things actually."

He shuffled closer to me and his eyes were surprisingly focused and I found them mesmerising me. I was getting lost like all of the other girls. But I had to keep going. I had to find out what he too had been keeping from me. I wanted to know his secrets.

"I don't think so." His hand came up to tangle in my hair as he slurred his words, "I remember the first time I saw you."

"And?" I said in a quiet whisper. The air was electric.

"I thought you were beautiful."

"And do you still think that?" I asked, biting my lip.

His eyes immediately dropped to my lips and he stared. "Even more so. Inside and out."

"Then why do you go for all the other girls?" I'd often wondered this but I was always afraid of the answer and I suppose I still was. But today was the day that everything changed.

He looked down finally. He looked guilty. "It's hard, Clove."

"What is? Can you not control yourself or something?" I felt the anger and pain bubble up in me. Sarah was wrong. What did she know? He didn't have layers he was nothing. He was a dick and I was wasting my time.

I stood up and began to leave. "Forget it. I think I already know the answer."

For the third time today, my arm was pulled but this time, I was spun around. He pushed me against the closed door and I couldn't breathe again. How did he have this effect on me? It really wasn't fair.

His voice was still slurred but it was hushed now, "You know what Clove, you're right."

"I am?" I said quietly.

"Yes. I can't control myself. Do you know how many times I've wanted to kiss you?"

My heart was pounding and I knew he could feel it against his own chest that was pressed to mine. My thoughts swirled again and I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. Before I'd even decided, words slipped out of my mouth without permission.

"Then why don't you?"

And that was it. His body pressed right against mine and I could feel every inch of him like I never had before. His lips met mine and pressed me further into the door as his kiss devoured me. His hands pulled on my hips so we were brought impossibly closer and I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think and we were closer than ever. His touch was addictive and I felt my arms wrap around his neck as I tangled my fingers in his hair pulling him closer to me until he couldn't get closer. I needed him. How had I never realised before what I was missing?

He pressed me closer to the door and his mouth finally untangled itself from mine so we could breathe. But before I knew it, his lips were on my skin skimming my jaw and down my neck and he was driving me crazy as I could feel him sucking where my neck and shoulder met. He was still so close and then I realised that this was Cato.

I froze. I was letting Cato kiss me.

A/N Yep that happened. I wasn't sure if now was a good time but oh well! It's happened now!

Okay I want to say that I actually have so many ideas for new Clato fics (don't worry not done with this one yet) but I'm really busy and have loads of exams this year. But since I have a longer summer next year (2015) I might start them then if you are all still around to read then.

Also, what do you want to see? Like I don't know where to go from here. If there's anything you want to see in terms of plot, events, characters, couples etc. PLEASE LET ME KNOW cos I kind of need it and I will credit you don't worry.

Also for those who asked: my tumblr is .com if you wanna check that out. It's a personal tumblr so please don't be mean...

Thank you for sticking around when I'm crap at updating!

Kathy